''On Colors'' (Greek Περὶ χρωμάτων; Latin ''De Coloribus'') is a treatise attributed to
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
[Barnes, Jonathan (1984). ''The Complete Works of Aristotle'' (2 Vols.), Princeton University Press, pp. 1219-1228 (V 1). .] but sometimes ascribed to
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...
or
Strato. The work outlines the theory that all
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...
s (yellow, red, purple, blue, and green) are derived from mixtures of black and white. ''On colors'' had a pronounced impact on subsequent
color theories and remained influential until
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
's experiments with light refraction.
See also
*
Corpus Aristotelicum
References
External links
*
Color
Pseudoaristotelian works
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